Smackover Formation
Stratigraphic range: Oxfordian
Wells reporting Smackover Formation tops are indicated by a black point, and extend from Texas to Florida. Formation top depths measured in 6,764 wells range from 1,394 to 23,554 feet.
TypeFormation
UnderliesBuckner Formation
OverliesNorphlet Formation
Location
RegionArkansas
CountryUnited States

The Smackover Formation is a geologic formation in Arkansas. It preserves fossils dating back to the Jurassic period.

The Smackover Formation consists of oolitic limestones and silty limestones.[1][2]

Mineral resources

Smackover Formation stratigraphic column for Texas

The Smackover Formation has been a prolific source of petroleum. The 1922 discovery of the Smackover oil field, after which the Smackover Formation is named, resulted in a sizeable oil boom in southern Arkansas.

In addition to being a petroleum reservoir, as of 2015, the brine from the Smackover Formation is the only source of commercial bromine in the United States.[3]

A 2022 report estimated that the lithium brine in the formation has "sufficient lithium to produce enough batteries for 50 million electric vehicles."[4]

Smackover and Bossier Formations geologic cross section

See also

References

  1. Dickinson, Kendell (1968). Upper Jurassic Stratigraphy of Some Adjacent Parts of Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. USGS. p. E9.
  2. Chimene, Calvin (1976). Braunstein, Jules (ed.). Upper Smackover Reservoirs, Walker Creek Field Area, Lafayette and Columbia Counties, Arkansas, in North American Oil and Gas Fields. Tulsa: The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. pp. 177–204. ISBN 0891813004.
  3. Various Contributors to the Paleobiology Database. "Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database". Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  4. "Resource report concludes Galvanic's lithium prospect among most prolific in North America". Green Car Congress. 2022-07-13. Retrieved 2022-08-27.


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